Shafiq al-Hout

Shafiq al-Hout (13 January 1932-2 August 2009) was a Palestinian communist and a co-founder of the Palestine Liberation Front and the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Biography
Shafiq al-Hout was born in Jaffa, Mandatory Palestine on 13 January 1932 to a Muslim Arab family, descended from immigrants from Lebanon. His family moved to Lebanon during the Arab-Israeli War in 1948, while his brother Jamal was killed during the war against Israel. al-Hout attended the American University of Beirut and was influenced by George Habash and pro-Soviet communists, becoming a teacher in Beirut and a communist activist. In 1961, he was one of the founders of the Palestine Liberation Front, and he was also one of the founders of the Palestine Liberation Organization, sitting on its Executive Committee. In 1974, he became the PLO's ambassador to the United Nations, and he survived ten Israeli assassination attempts during the Lebanese Civil War. In 1993, he left the Executive Committee in protest after Yasser Arafat agreed to dialogue with the Israelis, and he died of cancer in Beirut, Lebanon on 2 August 2009 at the age of 77.